Monday, October 02, 2006

True, I haven't sampled health care in many countries but I do have friends who have and I can read and all the evidence points to the fact that French health care is wonderful in comparison to much of the rest of the world and I'm even more thankful I'm here and not in the UK when I read this .

Now, take me, I'm also overdue for a visit to the dentist as I have a tooth that's sending out distress signals but I know that when I surrender to the inevitable and pick up the phone, the dentist will see me and though it'll cost about 50 euros for a filling, most of that will be reimboursed by the state and some of the rest by a top up insurance(mutuelles).

When at age 4 my son slipped and fell at a birthday party and cut his head, the family doctor stopped by and stitched up his head there and then and afterwards my son slid off my knee and joined in the fun and he didn't even miss the cake. Was I grateful!!! No long hours of waiting, no trauma, no fuss.

Paying employees social charges is expensive and drains the resources of small companies and Government spending on healthcare is always way over budget but selfishly I'm really, really grateful that I can enjoy the benefits.

2 comments:

It's funny, I'm just about to head out to the dentist now. I'm having a decent amount of work done, and it's all going to be cash, unfortunately (past the $1000 insurance covers) A crown is about $2000. Gulp.

"but it's worth it". In the US there's no universal healthcare, but it's by choice. It's not a poor country, obviously! But people don't expect the government to foot the bill. As a result we have a rich country with a lot of poor people in it, and I think that's a shame. I think it would be worth it too, here.